Hidden Before Their Eyes

Chapter 12: You Mean A Quest

When my results come back about how I did on the placement test they ask that I act as an assistant to professors when they need me. Through a lot of insistence on my part, they eventually took to the idea that I know so much because I was an informant. It is funny to think that all that the Academy offers in education I had already received prior in my life. When it came down to it I had stoped learning such things a few years ago when the focus of my studies shifted to being a competent bride to someone of my betrothed's standing. Something I definitely do not miss.

It is over two weeks out when I have my next battle so for now I am free of any extra stressors. Then again they did not give me an exact date yet so I do not have any clue as to how long I have a break for. It is nice, however, considering the consecutive battles I had been facing before.

I am sitting in on the class they said was the farthest in on the testing material. Turns out they are actually father than I would have thought. Currently they are learning the basics of demons and the variations that will be obvious and mean something. It is very intriguing to watch because this is not how I was taught, at all. I was taught each species one by one. This seems a lot more helpful for those who might go adventuring and run into demons with traits they recognize but a species they might not.

I am currently sitting in the professor's chair behind his deck, picking at my nails in boredom. I can feel the gazes of a few students on me so I lazily look up. There are a good thirty or so students in the class, spread out randomly in the room, which can likely sit fifty or sixty people total. I get a few glances here or there from most of the students, but one set of eyes is glaring at me, his eyes squinted.

I glare right back at Dracix, meeting his eyes head on. After a while he tears his eyes away and looks on towards the professor. I go back to mindlessly picking at my nails, just before the professor calls on me to be helpful.

"Carino will be helping out today as well as those days when she is in here," he says to the class. Every eye being directed towards me. I stand up and put my arms behind my back, folding them. The professor motions me over and I cautiously walk towards him.

"Carino, as you have been hearing we are covering the basics of demons, right of the bat is there anything you might like to share with the others?" The professor asks me, looking expectant.

I turn to face the class and say, "When it comes to demons each one will react to some things differently, even if they have the same outward signs. In general I would recommend avoiding them because the ones that hold authority can be your worst nightmare."

"That's true and good advice Carino. Have you perhaps had dealings with demons before?" The professor asks.

"Naturally," I answer. "I have had dealings with demons a few times over the past years. Most recently in a visit to the Den and an acquaintance of mine that I am friendly with."

"The Den?" A fellow student asks.

"It is a building in the town surrounding the Academy. You can find all manner of demons there. It is a place where they have been designated to freely conduct deals. I personally was there to escort someone to meat a certain Mr. Red," I answer.

The gasp from the professor draws all eyes to him. "Mr. Red?" He questions, and I nod in confirmation. "That is one dangerous demon you met Carino." He turns to the class and makes this into a teaching moment. "Mr. Red is one of the eleven demons that are above all the rest. He shows almost none of the signs that you might be taught to recognize demons by. Which is one of the most dangerous signs."

He goes on to talk about how if a demon is particularly powerful they begin to outgrow their traits and can sometimes even blend into society without others necessarily noticing. After a while I tune him out, once more sitting behind his desk.